Three lottery winners from 2 Ontario cities split huge Lotto 6/49 jackpot

Kenneth and Debra Skitch of Bowmanville, Ont., and Shane King of New Tecumseh, Ont. (OLG)

Three Ontarians from two different cities are millions richer after scoring the Lotto 6/49 jackpot on New Year’s Eve.

Debra and Kenneth Skitch from Bowmanville, Ont., have been playing the lottery for 40 years, and they rang in 2023 with a $2.5 million win. The married couple also won $2 on their Encore number selection.

“We use birthdays and birth months of our kids for the numbers we play,” Kenneth said when picking up their winnings at the OLG Prize Centre in downtown Toronto.

The pair checked their lottery tickets on New Year’s Day when they saw they won the Lotto 6/49 Classic Jackpot.

“I heard the winning jingle and thought we won a free ticket at first,” Kenneth said. “We were shocked.”

His wife said they are “on cloud nine.”

But they weren’t the only ones to win the jackpot on Dec. 31.

New Tecumseh’s Shane King also won with his ticket, splitting the $5-million jackpot with the Skitch family.

The 54-year-old has been playing the lottery for 10 years and said his emotions “really took over” when he discovered he won $2.5 million.

“I couldn’t believe it. I told my wife, and she was so excited,” King said. “I kept checking the ticket on my phone – not because I didn’t believe it, but because I wanted to see the $2.5 million prize amount!”

With his earnings, King said he is going to take his time to decide on what he will do with the money and speak with a financial advisor.

Meanwhile, the Skitchs said they are planning on putting their money towards retirement.

“We have been feeling like we’re on vacation since we won. However, the vacation can continue since we can officially retire,” Debra said.

The winning tickets were purchased at Daisy on King Street in Bowmanville, and Cookstown Mart on Queen Street in Cookstown, Ont.